Lawyer: Palestinian ending hunger strike in deal

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A lawyer for a hunger striking Palestinian prisoner says his client has agreed to end his protest under a plea bargain to confine him to the Gaza Strip for 10 years.

Lawyer Jawad Bulous said Sunday that Ayman Sharawneh, 53, who has been refusing food since last July, accepted the offer, fearing he'd be sent to prison for decades in a military court hearing this week.

Sharawneh, a West Bank resident who was serving a 38-year prison sentence for participating in militant attacks, was one of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners freed in 2011 in exchange for an Israeli soldier held by Hamas militants.

He was arrested again in January 2012 for allegedly violating the terms of his release by making contact with Hamas.